Saturday, May 29, 2010

Ahh, technology, flying 39,000 feet above the ground, I can share this:Oscar and I are in an airplane flying to Minnesota for my father's birthday. He's listening to Free to Be You and Me, trying to calm his motion sickness (uh oh, those bags really do come in handy) and I'm online blogging because (I can!) and I'm excited about Sunday's NY Times Pulse section in which China Chow sites my bags as one of her current obsessions! Yay, China! I love her and I'm so excited for the start Bravo's art reality show she'll be hosting in June.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Tuesday night will go down in my history as the most successful crafting night, ever. Okay, I haven't had many other crafting nights in my life so that's not a hard feat, but still, if I had had a lot of crafting nights, I'm positive this would've been the best. HBT, Deb and I got together to eat home delivered Mozza (!) and make fabric pom poms to put on our blank straw totes!!Here's a closer look at the bag and my new J. Crew pants, which were recommended to me from my hyper-stylish (remember it's French and say : "eee-pear" not "hi-per") ;) celebrity friend.Here's a closer look. Aren't they fantastic? They are the cutest things since bunnies, I think. We used really nice grosgrain ribbons, very expensive silks and lovely linen to make them, so we weren't playing. I told HBT and Deb that these bags may need to be for sale on seevivier.com for summer, we just need a full-time pom-maker. Anyone?We got kind of crazy with the pom making so we all had a few extra which didn't make it on to the bags. Here's one I wore as a bracelet (also, in this picture I'm in standing my shower, fully dressed & carrying my laptop envelope in black nubuck leather, which is shipping to Holt Renfrew today with a bunch of other goodies, but I digress...)Here's another one which Jocelyn quickly hijacked and called necklace upon seeing it. I think it was adorable with her stripped mariner T.She wore it out that night to an event with a very cute outfit and she told me the next day that girls were completely "mad doggin' her pom." She is from New York City. I said, I'm stealing that line. And I did.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

I said I would post the link to Lucky on this clutch, but apparently it's not so much a link as a newsletter...I couldn't find it on the site and hadn't heard back from Lucky until today when they sent me this.If you subscribe to their newsletters there are daily hot deals on good stuff - like a CViv remnant leather clutch, for example! I subscribed today, but until you do, here's the link for the clutch if you're interested. Enter LUCKY50 at check out to get the discount! Deal lasts until end of June. And, what do you mean nautical is not a verb? ;)xoxclare

Monday, May 24, 2010

There's a Lucky Magazine online deal with this nautical feeling, navy blue, herring bone print leather Clare Vivier clutch - starting tomorrow. I don't have their URL yet, but I'll post it tomorrow!!Also, all the new summery Camp Vivier items are up on the site now-GO CAMP VIVIER!!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

We went to Oscar's school Gala last night and this is the outfit I bought the day before at my new favorite re-sale couture shop.This is my first pair of Manolos. I always thought they were overpriced, super boring and not at all my style. Then I saw these in neon green and had a change of heart.The lace on this dress is so pretty and even though it's Sui, I like to think of it as Chanel because it reminds me of something Karl would like.But let's get a better look at the shoes. Neon. Green. They will be my summer going out staple, to be worn mismatched with everything. Like HBT said, when I asked her opinion of wearing the black lace dress and neon green stilettos together, "It's like you grabbed the closest shoes to the door on your way out of the house and they just happen to be fabulous, so what?" Maybe we call it a studied effortlessness. And, most importantly, I actually wore them all night without dying or wanting to put them directly in the trash when I got home. Score 1 for Blahnik in my book. Who knew?

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Tonight the opening party for the East West Tag Sale is taking place...it promises to be a fantastic fête and it'll be the premiere of our little Camp Vivier collection.Tonight's party is invite only, but if you're in Los Angeles, you definitely should stop by Space 15/Twenty this weekend! As you can see from the invite, there is an amazing selection of designers which are not normally carried at Space 15/Twenty - mostly at 50% off or more and it's for a good cause!According to their press release, "The sale event will offer a highly curated selection of steeply discounted merchandise from a mix of L.A. and New York's top emerging [CLAREVIVIER] and established designers (Helmut Lang, Rogan, Band of Outsiders, VenaCava, and more), bi-coastal vintage purveyors What Goes Around Comes Around, a curated lineup of NYC and Los Angeles's coolest boutiques [MOHAWK GENERAL STORE], and the first ever mini pop-up from famed NYC charity and vintage clothing chain Housing Works."If you're not in LA, the line will be available on our site on Monday!!We're very excited about Camp Vivier. The bomber clutch, above, carried last night to dinner by a lovely girl about town, got a huge nod from one of my most drool-worthy style icons.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Today, through an intermediary, my iPad cases were sent to a few geniuses (and I'm not talking about the people in the t-shirts, but the people behind the people behind the people in the t-shirts) in Cupertino.This is how I packaged them up for their trip up north.After many other attempts on my homemade rubber stamp, J thought of the phrase, "iPad placeholder" to stamp on the Muji notebooks with which we stuffed the leather sleeves. This is why I never want to work alone again.The pink is for the girl.The red is for the pink.Could this be more opposite of Apple's packaging? I think they'll like it. Meanwhile, I'm beyond geeking out on the fact that someone up there may actually see/receive/use (?!) my work.

You know when you have a job to do - a project, say, and your first thoughts are extremely elaborate? Like say you're asked to build a gate and you start thinking: Fortress! How many stones you'll need, mapping out the area of the structure, you'll have to learn masonry, (google masonry classes in your area,) and you'll have to figure out how you'll be able to rent the crane, (google cranes in your area etc,) when all you needed was little picket fence? That's me. I often have a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees.I presented myself with the task of making an iPad case as soon as the machine hit the market. It made sense. After all, I started out making laptop bags, and overall see my line as "working girl's" company. (Smart working girls with an incredible amount self-confidence and style, that is, but I digress.) I make an iPhone pouch, and multiple laptop bags, therefore iPad case was next. So I bought one of the "Papa-iPhones" the day it was released. No, I didn't reserve, and no, there wasn't even a line due to the fact that there were 1000 workers at the store that day all armed with their iPhones-cum-credit card processors. I was in and out in 10 minutes. And since that day, I've been devising the "Great iPad Contraption" ta da!! Only nothing quite worked out, very close, but not all the way happy with it. Everything just got complicated and cumbersome. So in the end guess what I came up with? The simplest of simple. A sleeve. Hey, who ever thought of that?But here's the catch, it's made of the loveliest of Italian, aniline (earth-friendly) dyed leather, made here in the USA, it cradles your iPad snugly, protects it from debris in your bag, and looks incredibly smart in your arms and that may just be all you need. I'm still working on other versions, I just cannot let it go...I will master a good looking, flip case with just perfect amount of utility, chic and boho. That's what I'm thinking.

I had lunch with Brandon Day of Generic Man and he filmed a bit of our conversation (and posted it on the blog he writes for called Selectism) in which I present him with some of my other iPad ideas...And I'm more than thrilled that, today, a little lot of them will be heading straight for the Apple design team in Cupertino as gifts from their friend Mr. Day (and me!)

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Not to be too girl bloggy-nepotism-y, but Tasha Nita Adams is one of the smart, driven, stylish girls I've met through my blog, from whom I continually to draw inspiration.She just so happened to write up a post on me and my blog yesterday, much to my great surprise! I wanted to cry when I read it. There's no way to thank someone for that, but I can tell you about her blog, that's not just a blog, it's more like a fantastic style/city guide, Mondette, and advise you check it out regularly and to sign-up for her newsletter. You'll be surprised at how much more in-the-know you are...

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Once a year, I get invited to an event called the Bag Lunch, it is a silent auction fundraiser for the great organization PS ARTS, and it is always held at some ridiculously beautiful mansion. Last year, it was held at one of the founders of Juicy Couture's faux French Chateau, the year before it was held at the creators of a daytime drama empire, you get the picture - major domiciles. On Friday, it was held at the home of a 70s rock band icon, we'll call him December, and his wife, we'll call her May. It was domestic gorgeousity incarnate.Here are a few scenes from this year's sac dejeuner. I hadn't the nerve to photograph the main house, lest I should look like a gawker, but I did snap the pool house, where I'd gladly call home any day. Colorful ladies lunching. Flowers and macarons. A Lucite heel on the leg of A-list stylist. Anyway, every year, I'm in a quandary about what to wear or, because she knows me so well, as HBT put it to me, "what are you going to cut?"Well, it just so happens that as of Friday a.m., I had no idea what I'd wear. However, I thought maybe my new "Paris" shoes would be part of the outfit. Imagine my surprise when I found them in my closet with one belt on and one belt missing. I spent the better part of the morning obsessively combing the house for the belt. Last time I'd seen the shoes Oscar had them on, when I instructed him he was going to break his neck in them, he took them off where he was standing, in the dining room. Cleaning lady came on Thursday and the shoes ended up back in my closet without the strap!In my panic, I start to think of fabricating my own "shoe belt." I've got leather, I say to myself. But there was just no way I'd be able to make two identical belts in the hour before the luncheon, just then I spy some hot pink grosgrain ribbon on my work table! You know how crazy I am for neon and hot colors right now...I start cutting. First two versions (above) not right, one bow, nah, not substantial enough for those shoes. Two strips of ribbons, still not working.Four strips of grosgrain, tied separately in knots with remainder hanging down fringey was it! Pretty! How to make the best of bad situation.This is me after the luncheon when Oscar got home from school and I was still wearing the shoes because at 4 knots on each side you don't take these off and on like a pair of Havaianas. The pink was so pretty I wanted to keep them on, even if heels at home is an oxymoron. Also the skirt is cute, I actually did get it in Paris, it is Claudie Pierlot. :) You see Oscar running around? That's him going to get my other strap. He knew just where it was in his room, under his toys he'd used it for keeping something together.Boy was he lucky mama had pink grosgrain ribbon laying around!Alas, the glamorous life came to a crashing halt and the beautiful shoes finally had to come off, because the toilet overflowed...and mama got her flipflops back.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

We're doing a little Summer Camp Vivier collection which will debut at Space 15/20 in Hollywood when Refinery 29 hosts a huge sale later this month. Mohawk General Store will commandeer an area for the sale and Camp Vivier will be featured. It's a fabulous way to debut the small collection which consists of the canvas Camp Viv Trop above, which also comes in army green; a canvas flat work tote in army green with leather handles.Also a few new clutches - notably one made of gorgeous brown leather reminiscent of a broken-in bomber jacket. And they're all designed to feel like a grown-up, mosquito-free trip to Lake Wallawalla, Widjiwagon, Tippecanoe or what have you. It'll all start with a bang at 15/20 at 50% then after that, they'll be featured on the website at regular price. More details about the sale as they become available.

Monday, May 3, 2010

I went to a lavishly lovely dinner in the private wine cellar room of Terroni on Friday night. The food was amazing, the wine overflowing, and many many flowers on the table from Holly Flora.Close up of an insanely cute bud vase with poppies.Cut to Saturday a.m. and see what was on my mantle!And on my dresser...A lucky few of us got to take a little piece of Holly Flora home with us. Aren't they sculptural and beautiful and happy?!I also got to go home with this Mexican silver bracelet.My friend gave it to me as she knew my whole outfit for the evening was to be planned around my new, very Frida-esque, silver-ball necklace from Luxe De Ville.Here's me very Frida-like, sans make-up and very serious this a.m.Have I mentioned before that many of my outfits are predicated on the question, Would Frida Wear It? Slight obsession. And, I'm sure that Frida and Diego engaged in more than a few Civilized Bacchanalias in their day too.